Bestia
by XoXo Writers Mistress
Summary: Bella's mother sends her to Forks when being an outcast because of her daughter's beliefs becomes too much. Edward is bored in the rainy state of Washington but is intrigued when Bella and her cat, Frey, stir up the quiet, small-town life of Forks. R&R! Formerly known as "You are a what?"
1. Prologue

**EdwardPOV**

I sat at our usual lunch table in the back of the cafeteria with my family. All the students seemed to act normally, sitting in their usual stereotype order and pretending that they were different compared to all the others. When, in reality, they were just going about like teenagers - and people in general, really - had been going about since the dawn of man. It is unnerving, to say the least, to have to live as a high schooler as many times as I have. I´ve lost count. Not that I ever started counting.

"Have you heard? The chief's daughter is coming back to town."

I glanced up to see a girl, who I recognized as Jessica, who had been trying, unsuccessfully, to get me to go on a date with her since I came here, just enter the cafeteria with her friend.

"No!" her friend beamed, "Really? What was her name again?"

"I think it was Isabella. Chief Swan has been talking about it all week, he tells anybody who is willing to listen." _More like anybody who doesn´t tell him to shut the fuck up. So annoying, _she thought.

I´ve been in town long enough to know who the chief is but I am not enough of a trouble maker to have actually talked to him. I bet he appreciates that.

"Yeah, I bet. It was, like, a huge scandal when his wife left him all those years ago and took their child with her. The whole town new about it", _but no one said anything to him because they were afraid he was going to throw them in jail for having said what they thought. Talk about being paranoid,_ Jessica's friend, Lauren, thought.

I wasn´t interested in hearing anymore so I rose from my seat with my plate to go to my next class. I swiftly walked away from my table without saying anything to my siblings and dumped my untouched food.

I tried not to think, or listen, to what every pupil in the room were thinking about; Isabella Swan was coming back to town. _I think my head is going to explode._

**IsabellaPOV**

Plane traveling is not that bad, once you accustom to the kid who is sitting behind you and kicking at the back of your seat, the fat lady at your side who snores and the drunken old geezer in front of you who gropes the airhostess every time she walks by. Yeah, plane trips are a joy, but hey, I am not one to complain.

I am now on my way to Forks, Washington, to live with my dad. My mother and her husband, Phil, sent me here for who knows what reason. I have never caused her any trouble, if you overlook the few fires in the back yard that the police had come to investigate due to an "_anonymous" _phone call. I was just casting a circle; I had the fire under control. Well, not that you can actually control one of the elements, but it was not going to burn up the backyard.

I guess that the rumors about me being 'a freak' or 'a member of a cult' had reached my mother's ears. She did not give them a second thought after I told her it was nothing and that I could handle it, but when they started affecting her and Phil she started questioning my way of life.

When she told me to stop I refused. It is, as I said, a way of life; nothing you can just stop doing. So she tried another method; to threaten me. She told me that if I did not stop casting circles and "worship the devil", as most people in the neighborhood, school and at the social gatherings called it, she would send me to my father in Washington.

When I told her that I understood her conditions and concern and that I had no problem agreeing to her terms, therefore I would be going to Forks she started screaming at me to go to my room and stay there.

Did she suppose that I would mind moving in with my father simply because he was the chief of police in town? Although… therefore she might have concluded that he would not let me go out at midnight when there was a full moon.

_Oops_, I thought,_ I_ _did not think about that._

The airhostess passed then and told me to buckle up – we were about to land. I gave her a smile and thanked her for telling me.

When the hostess passed my seat and turned to the one in front of me I saw a hand reach out toward her left breast. _This is not the way it works._

I rose from my seat and grabbed the man's hand.

"Excuse me", I said as I gave him a friendly smile, "could you keep your hands to yourself, please?"

"Who are you to tell me that kid?" he asked, drunkenly.

"Let me enlighten you. If you don´t", I said and grabbed his manhood as I pushed and squeezed hard, "this will be gone before you know it. Is that clear?"

He blinked at me, the sound of a strangled chicken escaping his lips.

"Yeah", was his lame, final answer.

"Good."

The airhostess thanked me as I returned to my seat, half of the passengers' shocked faces turned to me. I sat down and felt the kid attack the back of my seat again. I turned around and looked at him severely. I explained that you should not kick a chair that someone is sitting in. He nodded and kept his head down.

I turned back around and buckled up.

I wonder how people can just let things like these go by without doing anything. It is simply not right. Then I heard a loud snore from my right. _You know what they say; it is not over until the fat lady snores. _

Walking off the plane I was greeted by a cold wind and rain. _Great welcoming Ran, Skadi._


	2. First sight

**IsabellaPOV**

Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser outside the airport. This was expected. I could only pray that I would find a car fast enough so I would not have to walk to school or have Charlie drive me in… that.

He gave me an awkward one-armed hug as I gave him a bear like one.

"It´s good to see you, Bells", he greeted me, "How´s Renée?"

"Mother is… well. It is good to see you, too, father", I acknowledged with a heartwarming smile.

Without wasting any time Charlie insisted on helping me with my bags. Because let me tell you; they were not small.

The energy radiating from Charlie´s chest was tangible, nearly sizzling with awkwardness in the small space of the car. Charlie was not what you would call verbose; he was never one to say the wrong thing. He rarely ever spoke, lest it was necessary to be heard.

"I found a good car for you, real cheap, too", Charlie announced, turning out from the parking lot onto the highway. In what should have been an illegally slow pace, I might add.

"How thoughtful of you, father, I sincerely appreciate that, but I can afford buying myself a car of my own."

Charlie looked as if he was taken aback by being called 'father', and not used to my way of speaking. _He will soon accustom, _I thought merrily.

"I know that! But… I, kind of… already got it for you", he confessed, mumbling the last part with the hint of a blush coloring his cheeks.

"I see," I said, with a nod of acceptation. "How cheap is 'cheap'?"

"Do you remember Billy Black?"

"No."

"He´s in a wheelchair now and offered to sell me his car since he won't be using it anytime soon", Charlie clarified with a heart filled laughter.

"It was free, was it not?"

Silence.

"Well, yeah. You´ll love it, though. I hope", he said in a small voice.

_I pray._

30 minutes later we had pulled up on the driveway of the white house my father calls 'home' and I had immediately fallen in love with the white Volkswagen beetle cabriolet that stood there, waiting for me.

"Father?"

"…Yes?"

"I am head over heels in love with this car."

I loved it. And I bet Frey will, too. _I wonder how she is going to get here. _Oh well, she will find her way.

**FreyPOV**

_Ugh. So hot. So many people. So annoying._

**IsabellaPOV**

During my years of absence, Charlie had only done minor changes to my room. As I grew he had replaced the crib for a bed and added a desk. The desk held a second hand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along the floor to the nearest phone jack. The rocking chair in the corner remained though, and so did the colors.

Charlie let me unpack my bags in solitude. As I did so I thought about the new school and wondered how my new life here would turn out. Not that I had ever cared, but I was hoping that the people here would be more accepting than they had been in Phoenix. For Charlie's sake.

I was nowhere near done unpacking and putting my things in the right places but it was getting late and I could as well get everything done tomorrow.

Before going to bed though I went outside to the back of the house and was blown away.

"How could I not have felt this before?" I whispered to myself

The forest, the earth, the trees were casting a protective and powerful bubble of energy around the house and its yard. It pulsated in pure nature energy so great I had to catch my breath. This earth was the healthiest I had been in contact with in a long time.

I walked out on the grass with nothing covering my feet but my own skin. I could feel her under me. The woman that has given life to our world, she whom lets us walk and live on her back, she whom carries us through the universe we know nothing of.

When I came to the row of trees that made a fine line between my father's backyard and the one of another's - the living creatures of the forest I knelt down slowly and put my palm gently on the earth. When I did so the small strands of grass that surrounded the area turned to me and the trees branches hovered over me as if they were trying to hear what I was about to say.

I pushed my fingers into the wet soil and could now hear a peaceful hum from the ground. I could feel my fire of life from the bottom of my abdomen start to burn more playfully, as if it could feel that mother earth was near. Or as I like to call her – _Nerthus._

"It is too late to greet thou tonight, but so I shall, when I am settled in this new home of mine." I reached up to the top of my head and pulled out a strand of hair. "But so that thou shall recognize and accept me I give to thou a small gift to show that I am willing to follow thy command in exchange for a few favors now and then."

I dropped the straw on the earth and as it touched the ground a small patch of grass closed around it and then opened to unveil that it was gone and the trees sighed in content. She had accepted.

"Alright – time to sleep."

**EdwardPOV**

"Hello dear brother" Alice beamed as she jumped onto my back and wrapped her legs around my waist, "How was class? Did you learn anything?"

"Are you honestly asking me that, Alice?" I asked her skeptically with a raised eyebrow as I put her down. She pouted and I laughed, as went our usual routine before lunch.

"Party pooper" She muttered and went to Jasper for consolation.

"Eddie boy!" Emmett boomed and slung an arm around my shoulders, drawing much unwanted attention from the hunger crazed students filling the halls. _Why do I always feel small around this guy?_ "Be nice to the little one! You´re a big boy, you´re supposed to be a good example to the kids!"

"She´s older than you are!"

"Shh! Keep it down, will you?" Rosalie lectured.

We walked the rest of the way to the cafeteria in silence.

After we had gathered our props, or as on human terms _food, _we headed to our usual table and sat down.

Everything was going in its usual order – students leaving and entering, sitting in their usual places with their usual company and gossiping about their usual insignificant things. After a few minutes of staring at the table and trying not listen in on other people's conversations the room blew up with the sound of familiar voices. Their thoughts filled my conscience, tormenting my mind with their sudden outbursts of loud comments and images around one subject, and one subject only: Isabella Swan.

Or, as others like to think of her, Bella.

The explosion of thoughts was so overwhelming that I had to catch my breath for second. My brothers and sisters frowned with worry as they asked if I were I okay. Alice though was staring off into space as she mused "It became so quiet…"

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed, trying to overpower the humongous noise in my head. The images were even worse. They were all blurry but showed a fairly pretty girl with long dark waves and a long knitted coat that looked like a blanket with a hood. Then we had the more sexual images that showed her with less than that. Much less than that.

_Edward._

I turned my head to the right, as I thought I heard my name being called. I was met by the eyes of Jessica Stanley but quickly turned them away from her and instead looked to girl sitting next to her. She was the most gorgeous creature I had ever seen.

What I first noticed was her eyes. They were deep brown with green specks playing across the surface of her radiating irises. Suddenly, as I numbly awed at them, her pupils dilated although there was no change of the light. And as they did, the green color of her eyes began to dominate, shifting around and looking as if it swallowed the brown. _That's odd, green eyes are recessive to brown ones. _

Second, I took in the sight of her skin - milky, almost as pale as my own. It complemented her slightly parted lips, the upper almost unnoticeably too big in proportion to her bottom. My eyes traveled downwards and inevitably stopped at her neck. Oh, and that neck – might I die and burn in the depths of hells flames if my lips were to never even graze the ethereal skin of her neck.

I looked away. I, who am no longer the keeper of a soul, can ever touch such a pure being as she. If I were to have one, I believe that I would now have found my soul mate. But a man with no soul has none and is condemned to a life where no such thing as _love_ is the ruler, but loathing and self destruction is that man's goal should he be brave enough to pursuit it_._

But that does not mean I cannot still dream of it, so yet again I glanced her way. This time I wanted to hear her. I wanted to see through her eyes – how did this woman look at and think of me? I focused on her, tuned out all the other voices and concentrated on finding hers.

I could hear nothing - her mind was as silent as a dead man's grave as she stared into my wondering eyes with the same curiosity in her own. I tried harder to push myself into her mind, but did so in vain as my struggle only caused me frustration and a slight headache. Then I heard it. Three words dominated my senses, a voice so clear, yet deep and unfamiliar it completely threw me off.

_It is you._

**IsabellaPOV**

He had been trying to get inside of my head. Literally.

As I had stepped foot into the cafeteria together with a girl named Jessica, whom I had met during the hour of my Spanish lesson, my sight had instantly zeroed in on a group of beautiful beings. They were seated by a circular table near the window at the back of the room, as far away from me as possible.

I could not tear my eyes away from them because not only were they stunning, but they radiated an energy that mocked all others. It pulsated, like a giant heart of compact heat, glowing brighter than any I had ever looked upon, or felt.

There were five of them, all different, yet exactly the same. A blond young woman, tall, gorgeous face, features that females all over the world would think of as perfect. On either side of her there were two men – one, big and muscular with dark short and curly hair, and the other was blond, tall and lean. The dark haired boy looked to be dangerous, but his soul was pure and playful. He had an arm slung around the back of the blond woman's chair.

The blond boy had a small girl in his lap. She was also beautiful with spiky black hair and a small frame. Next to them was a bronze haired boy. He looked to be younger than the rest, but just as gorgeous, if you could call a man that.

They were all very pale and had golden eyes that reminded me of Frey, my cat.

"Who are they?"

Jessica, the girl whom I had asked the curious question snapped her attentive eyes to me, and followed my gaze. As she did so the bronze haired boy looked at her, as if she had called his name, but quickly looked away to me instead. I could only catch a glint of his eyes before he looked away again.

"Oh, them?" Jessica piped up with a barely noticeable sourness to her voice. "The blond girl's name is Rosalie Hale, and the blond boy is her brother, Jasper. The big guys name is Emmet, the little one in Jaspers knees´ name is Alice and then we have _Edward_…" and so, she started talking about how _hot_ he was.

As he sat there I noticed how his long, slender fingers played around with the food on his plate. _A musician, _I thought. Suddenly, he looked at me again, and I could not tear my eyes away from him. His gaze roamed over my body but lingered mostly on my neck and face. When he met my eyes again his brows furrowed in confusion. Then I felt it.

A presence – something, or someone, was trying to get inside of my head. It was strong, a feeling of someone consciously digging their way into my senses, trying to unlock the secrets that hide behind the gate of my psyche. When looking around I could not find anyone concentrating enough to be the source of it, until I _saw_ Edward Cullen.

With his bronze brows knitted together, his perfectly shaped lips pressed together in a straight line, and with the most sensual, concentrated face I had ever looked upon I had found my intruder.

I opened my mind for him just far enough to reveal one single thought – _It is you._ Then I closed it again. His face showed an expression of shock, he looked baffled. But then, just a second later, he looked intrigued. As was I. _Huh,_ I thought_, I have never met a mind reader before… This should be interesting._

"…But apparently nobody here is good looking enough for him." Jessica finished, with a lot of frustration in her voice she did not care to hide.

"Tell me…" I started, still gawking at Edward who had looked away again,"When did he turn you down?"

The table went quiet but that I did not acknowledge. Instead, I noticed how the corner of Edwards's mouth turned up. Was he laughing? Oh, I wanted to hear his laughter. If I had to guess, I would say it sounds like a symphony.

And his voice. I wanted to hear that, too. I would have to think of it as, while I have not yet heard him speak, the voice of the lead character in the movie setting of _the Phantom of the Opera. _Deep. Manly. Simply a joy to listen to, even if you have no idea what he is saying… listening, hearing, will make you want him to say more.

What made me disappointed about all this was the fact that I was only attracted to him. Again, like all the times before this I am, like all others, in love with the idea of love.

After I realized that I was not about to be given an answer I rose from my seat and left the cafeteria, a table full of stunned teenagers at my observant comment and an interesting subject who would be the heart and soul of what was about to happen in my years to come.


	3. Mr Cullen

**A/N: Thank you for your wonderful comments and reviews, I sincerely appreciate them. They truly make my day. **

**I have a few answers for YellowFlower1922: Yes, her eyes did change color from brown to green. Yes, she did see Emmett's aura, and I only described his because it stood out more than the rest – I will get to those later ;)**

**I also want to thank the anonymous 'silver' for reminding me about the quotation marks. Thank you!**

**Love to you all for liking my interpretation of 'Bella'.**

**And also, I could never have gotten this far without my lovely Beta Reader and best friend: Tina the Terrorist. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or it's wonderful characters. But I do own this story line. ;)**

**IsabellaPov**

The teacher, Mr. Banner, had told me to take a seat as soon as he had filled in the paper I had received from the red haired woman at the office so, naturally, I took the only free one left which happened to be next to Edward Cullen. I folded my hands on top of the books in front of me as Mr. Banner made to start the lesson.

"Class! Today we are going to-"

I coughed, interrupting him.

"Excuse me." I said with my hand straight in the air, "Should I not introduce myself to the class? I am certain they are very curious as to who I am."

The students surrounding me stared in awe, some even gasped, but I did not notice them as much as I did the glow to my left. It was great and shining in a faint color of pink, I could feel an emotion pulsating from it – amusement.

I turned my head to see the profile of Edward Cullen, his sculptured face beautiful from this angle, but it was nothing compared to the beauty of his aura. It was a glow centered at the left side of his chest, surrounding him like a cloud. It was forced – as if it was bound to be closed into itself for ever, like his person was cut off from the rest of the world.

_He is complicated, _I thought.

I could tell that he was uncomfortable, yet amused.

_How strange, to be feeling those two emotions at the same time… complex, maybe._

But there was something else, something darker tainting the glow of his spirit. It was coming from his throat; in dark red it brought to me a feeling I had not felt before. It was a mixture of madness and something else entirely.

_I will have to investigate further into that some other time._

I rose from my seat and walked swiftly to the front of the classroom, taking the place of Mr. Banner as he had made his way to the old chair behind his oak desk.

"Greetings. I am Isabella Swan," I began," daughter of Renée, who is daughter of Jane, who is daughter of Evelyn, who is daughter of the goddess. It is a pleasure to meet you." I finished with a curtsy and a hand resting over my heart.

And then I heard applause. Looking up I saw a pair of pale hands meeting and parting, over and over, belonging to a blond young boy who, strangely enough, reminded me of a dog. Behind him was a boy with skin problems and hair black as oil following his example.

_This is quite embarrassing, _I thought as I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. I held my head up high and started walking back to my seat but stumbled on a backpack that had been thrown on the floor. So that my face would not meet it I caught myself on the desk the backpack was lying beside. It belonged to a couple of girls who cheekily giggled when seeing this.

I gave them a stare, making sure it was blank. They stopped laughing. As they did so the laughter of the rest of the students became hesitant, and then completely vanished.

Without meeting any more curious eyes, I pushed myself off the desk and started walking again.

The rest of the lesson went by slowly, the teacher did no more than to tell us what we would be doing for the rest of the year, so my attention was instead drawn back to the magnificent creature at my side. Although I did no more than steal a few glances here and there, I was fully aware of his presence. More so than the person I was supposed to be paying attention to; the teacher.

Mr. Cullen's feeling of amusement was quickly overpowered by the dark madness I had felt earlier. He was not breathing either, a fact I did not feel very comfortable with knowing.

He was sitting by the edge of his seat, his chair was turned away from me and his whole body was tense. He had been giving me hard glares the entire hour, ones that could easily be understood as hate filled ones. Whether they had been directed at himself, or me I could not tell. His pitch black eyes had been hard and cold, being the cause of the shudders along my back.

It had put me on edge, having him look at me like he wanted eat me. He looked calculating, something that also showed in his aura - it had started to shrink, though without losing its shine. The madness had almost taken him over, swallowed him like he was candy to a baby, when the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Mr. Cullen was out of his seat and on his way to the door before anyone else had even gotten a chance of gathering their books.

_Well, he was in a hurry._

As I was about to leave the classroom the dog-boy from earlier stalked up to me, determination obsessing his young face.

"Hi, I'm Mike," he said, offering me a sweaty hand. I looked at it and then back at his face.

"Hello Mike. Was there something in particular you wanted to talk with me about?" I asked him, curious. His face fell and a faint blush colored his cheeks.

"Well, no. Not really," he answered, "I was just going to ask what your next class was."

"I have gym."

"Oh," his face lit up, "That's my next class too." He said, giving me a heart-warming smile. I looked at him, awaiting his explanation as to what he wanted me to do with this information.

"So…" his face fell, yet again, "wanna' go to class together?"

I thought this over for a few seconds until I came up with the conclusion that he would probably not take no for an answer, and even if he did he would probably ask again some other time. Also, I did not know the way.

* * *

><p>Gym was an enlightening experience. It seemed boys of this age like to pretend they are stronger than they really are, and the girls prefer to touch up on their make up for each other than actually trying their best.<p>

Mike had been overly friendly during our lesson, treating me as though I could not do anything remotely related to body exercising. As I tried to escape him and take cover in my car he had been following me, asking if I had stabbed Edward Cullen with a pencil or not.

According to Mike he had looked like he was in pain. He made a comment telling me that Edward Cullen was a weird guy and if he himself had been lucky enough to sit by me, he would have talked to me. When I was at the door I turned around to face him.

"Mike," I said, "I would appreciate it if you could move so that I can go home." Turning to my car to get inside and out of the rain I left him standing, feeling shock and disappointment. Sadly, I had a feeling that he was not a person to give in so easily.

As I sat there, staring out the window, I started thinking about Edward Cullen. I wondered who he was, if he had been able to read minds since his birth or if it had come later, with age. I wondered what in me he had found interesting. I wondered about his family, his siblings. I had been able to over hear a few things about them as I went through my day, one was that he, along with his siblings, were adopted.

I wondered why, what had happened to his birth parents and who his parents were now. I wondered if he was happy. If he, which he probably did, have a girlfriend or not. Jessica had mentioned something about that. Nobody here was good enough for him, but that did not mean that he did not have preferences... outside of Forks. Maybe back in Alaska, where he was from.

My eyes roamed the school and settled on the office building.

_Damn it. I forgot to return my paperwork._

I looked out the window to see if Mike was still standing there. I was happily surprised to see that he was not; he had retreated to his own car and was now on his way out of the parking lot. I stepped out of my car and walked to the office.

When I entered the warm building I saw the back of Edward Cullen standing by the desk. He was arguing with the lady sitting behind it, the one I had talked with earlier this morning. He was trying to exchange his biology classes with something else. Anything else.

I could see him stiffen as I entered. His head turned slightly toward me. I could feel the darkness consume him again as his dark eyes pierced through me. Then he turned back toward the red haired woman. He said that he understood that there was nothing she could do but thanked for her help anyway, and then he left.

With a heavy heart I stepped forward, as it was my turn to talk with the woman.

"How was your day dear?" She asked me with a pleasant smile playing at her lips.

"Fine," I answered, returning her smile.

The next day was not as new as the first. I knew what to expect. Mike sat beside me during English. Like I said, someone who does not take no for an answer.

He also followed me to my next class and by doing so received death glares from the black haired boy I had now learned carried the name Eric. He was an overly helpful boy.

_What is with this town and being 'overly' something?_

Although the second day was not as exciting as the first I did have a new feeling that accompanied me the entire day. It was a mixture of nervousness and that irritating feeling of butterflies in your stomach.

_I cannot be having a crush, can I? _On someone who I did not know a single thing about and someone who had looked at me like he wanted to chew on me and then spit the remains back out.

_... Did I really just think that?_

I had been thinking about him. I even considered confronting him and demand to know what his problem was, but decided against it in the end.

Walking to lunch was one of the most traumatizing moments of my life so far, although, I knew it should not have been. Well inside the cafeteria I was met by a sight I was not expecting; the Cullen's table was not occupied by five people, but by four.

With disappointment clouding my mind I took a seat by an empty table and started chewing on my apple.

As time passed I grew more and more tense, he could still show up to biology class. That was a possibility. Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever, walked faithfully by my side to class. I held my breath at the door, but no, he did not show his face there either.

I came home, went straight upstairs and turned on the computer. While waiting for it to start I went down to the kitchen to find myself something to eat.

_Well, _I thought when I was met by the emptiness that was the refrigerator, _I guess it is time to go grocery shopping._

I closed it again and went to the now turned on computer. My mother had sent me several e-mails, asking me about the weather and if I had settled in all right. Then her messages turned more panicked as she was starting to sound worried because of my lack of response. She even started to threaten me, telling me that if I did not send her back an e-mail before 5.30 p.m. she would be calling my father.

I quickly started typing her an e-mail telling her not to do anything rash and sent it before starting again on a new one. Mother, I began, but was interrupted by a sound coming from my window. Looking over there my eyes fell upon a black cat with deep brown eyes, a shade not too far from my own.

"Hello Frey, it is nice to see thou again. Though I must admit - it took you a while." I smiled pleasantly at her as she _meow_ed in response, as if to greet me, jumped off the window frame, skipped through the room and jumped up on my bed. She walked around in three circles before settling down and I turned back toward my on going e-mail.

_Now, _I thought,_ where was I? Ah! Mother..._

"You shall not worry for me. I am fine. It is quite splendid here, actually. The weather is nice, the rain soothing. Father bought me a car that I loved from the moment my eyes fell upon it. The people here seem to be either overly friendly or overly helpful, but that is better than having them misunderstand me, is it not?

"I hope you and Phillip are feeling all right, and tell him that I wish him the best of luck in his work. I hope you will find something exciting to do while he is working and cannot tend to you.

"Yours truly, Isabella."

Send.

That night, while dining with father and being the curious creature that I am, I asked about the Cullen family.

"The Cullen's?" he confirmed, "Well… We have doctor Cullen and his wife Esme, and then there are the kids. Five of them, I believe."

I waited. He seemed to missunderstand my silence as me being content with the answere he gave me, so I pressed for more information. He sighed and started again.

"They came here two years ago, moved in from Alaska or something like that. We're lucky doctor Cullen's wife wanted to move to a quiet small town. Being the good doctor he is he could be working in any hospital anywhere in the country, and making lots of more money than he is now, too, but he wanted his wife to be happy, so… he went along with her wishes."

He told me about how well mannered the kids are, that they had never been any trouble at all. He also raised his voice once, while telling me about how people in town talk ill of them for no good reason.

"They are very good-looking." I commented.

"Hah!" he exclaimed, "You should see the doctor. The nurses are having a hard time concentrating on their work, having him around."

We fell back into silence and kept eating. Father went to watch TV as I started on the dishes and then on my usual routine before going to bed; brushing my teeth and cleaning up, changing into night wear and then saying goodnight to the goddesses, one for every point of the compass, and thanking them for being by my side through the day.

Frey lied beside my head and we slept throughout the rest of the night in exhausted, tired bliss.

The rest of the week I was disappointed yet filled with relief, both at lunch and biology.

**A/N: Hello dear readers! Thank you for reading this far, I am impressed. Remember! Reviews make me type faster…**


	4. Ceremony

During the week of Edward Cullen's absence I had learned nearly every face in school, and even memorized the majority of their names. I had given the earth a proper greeting as well. As I had come home after school one day not too long after Edward had disappeared I went home to start the small ceremony I had been preparing myself for. Luckily my altar had shown itself once I had finished unpacking. The altar contained my grail - a candy canister made of glass – a seashell where I kept my dry sage, my wand for when I needed help directing energy, an altar candle as well as a lighter.

I decided to do a stone ceremony, to beg the shields of my conscience for guidance in what seemed to be growing into something more than I could ever dream of. I brought my altar and a few other things with me and stepped outside to the forest at the back of the house. I found a small clearing near a big oak tree, a place that would be perfect for the ceremony.

After leaving my things I walked off to find five stones, one for each shield.

Having found my stones a time later I walked back to my clearing. I looked at the trees to see which side of them was barer – an effect caused by the wind that is always strongest from the north where Skadi, the goddess of air, is the ruler.

I put one of the stones in that direction after having decided where the middle should be and laid a stone there. After, I placed the rest of the stones in each direction of the compass – west, south and east.

Before beginning I decided to cleanse my soul. I lit the sage and used the wing of a swan that had been a gift to me from grandmother, a great priestess from Avalon, to guide the smoke along my body. I took a deep breath, turned to the south and picked up the stone.

"Ran," I called, "I welcome thee to my circle, thee whom brings us water. Thee who lets us, me and my fellow sisters and brothers, rid ourselves of filth and dry throats. Thee, oh goddess of the ocean, who comes with the wonders of water and your wonderful animals – the sharks, dolphins, fishes and shellfishes as well as all life living under your command. Giver of energy, oh thou generous power of wealth, help me be one with my feelings, and help me be aware of the feelings of others. I beg for your forgiveness as well as giving you my thanks, for what we have done to you and you have done for us. I invite thee here, and beg to bless me with tears."

I could hear the ocean as I put the stone back down and turned, clockwise, to the north, drying away the tear running down my cheek. I took the next stone in my hands.

"Skadi, thee unpredictable wind. Let me fly with you to exciting heights and latch on to your wings as you rush through storms and hastily soar over clouds and through mist. Please, I beg of thee, let me feel your hand caress my face in the morning hush and hear your winged friends sing in their graceful rush. Help me think, please, blow my mind clear of all uncertainty and be with me during times of need. Carry my voice in your arms, to help me be heard. Help me think, Skadi. I invite thee to my circle, and give to thee a welcome worthy to be heard."

As I said the last line I gave her a small bow, feeling the breeze playfully ruffle my hair and continued to the west.

"I welcome thee, Nerthus, mother of the earth, and all your little helpers, the banshees above all. The animals of the woods are all a part of the world that you so kindly let us use. Nerthus, thee spectacular soil has nourished us humans as well as the rest of the world we know. I thank you, great mother, for letting me, my sisters and brothers, and the rest of your kingdom walk upon thy back and live off of your provisions. I thank you for carrying us through the universe we know so little of and you help us stand strong by being by our side. Welcome to this circle that I have, oh so humbly, invited you to."

The trees bowed and the grass reached for my hand. I pressed my palm to the soil and felt a familiar hum. Smiling, I turned to the next stone – east.

"Idun, my beautiful, young Idun. You come to me with youth and passion: you come to me with warmth. You bring me love and adventure: you bring me power and hope. I thank thee for the sun and the light you bring. Be with me in my circle, be with me everywhere, for I am still young and would like to keep it so. Bring me your playfulness and sense of curiosity, and send my humble regards to the animals you guard – like the courser, or horse if so might be, and all the other beings that help man, as well as woman, kind. Be with me when I am sad, be with me too when I am glad. And so - I welcome you."

The sun peeked over the treetops and caressed my face for a moment before I turned to the south again and sat down on the moss in the middle to pick up the last stone.

"Hel," I spoke," you who are whole, be with me during my ceremony, thee great goddess that binds them all together. Giver as well as taker of life, thank you! For taking those who are ready to wander by your side and walk to their next lives that you are also the giver of. I am sorry for being scared of death, mother, but if I were not, how could I still be brave? Thy great mother who invites us to live the next life after this, receiver of life and death, I talk to thee from the bottom of my heart when I say thank you, and welcome."

There was a presence now, a few actually. I could feel them; they were here, all of them. Hel was by my side, smiling. I could feel it.

Now was the time to talk to my shields to I tried to bring them forth. The goddesses dispersed to leave room for me to talk to them, though they still lingered around us. I was sitting in the direction of my 'hurt child', the child substance shield, where all my uncertainty lies: the immaturity, the one that seeks acknowledgement.

"How are you?" I asked, " I have come here to listen to you. What do you need?"

I could feel it, the uncertainty and hurt, along my back. It licked my spine as it moved to my front and settled there. It, or a younger version of myself pulsated betrayal, hurt, as I was curled up in a ball and rocking back and forth, crying. I looked to my right where the child spirit shield is: the bringer of beauty, my little boy, my Peter Pan, who knows of the existence of magic and magical beings and who loves adventures.

"Would you like to help me?" I asked him, and he answered with an exciting nod. I smiled. "Good. Could you play with her, please? Maybe show her a magical trick or two? Tell her not to worry, for I will never hurt, nor will I ever betray her." My inner boy lit up and was immediately by her side, energetically showing her a wand and telling her a story about how he found it.

The adult shield was tricky. It was not as badly hurt as the child substance shield but needed work. My so called inner "vegetable-woman" had told to many lies and said that everything was fine when, in reality, it was not. I could feel that she had not understood the female part to the letter.

To give her a little more clarity in her mind and feelings I turned to my warrior shield, which is always standing by my left side. The warrior always stands tall and strong, while the grownup does not. Though the adult is sometimes hard to understand, the warrior is patient and kind. To find an understanding between the two has never been hard to do.

Now that I was sure about the two weaker shields, in lack of finding a better word, were going to be taken care of I mustered enough courage to turn inwards to speak with the elder.

I could see the forest behind my closed eyelids: hear sounds that were confiscated by my fantasy and evolved from small tapings in the tree trunks to images of evil spirits, ghosts and men who wanted to hurt me.

It went fast and sharp as I was being viciously rocked back and forth. Back and forth, back and forth, like small tugs. There were smaller jerks, miner winces as well as angry twitches making my body and mind worried.

I wanted to open my eyes but she would not let me. I wanted to look around me and be reassured of the fact that nobody was nearby that could or wanted to hurt me. I was scared. My whole body was on edge, it was tense with fear and I was so scared!

It felt like my abdomen was tied up in a hard knot and all of my senses were screaming at me: "open your eyes!" But I didn't. Grandmother told me not to. She held me in her arms, embraced me along with my mind and whispered to my subconscious to calm itself. The whisper though was not one of words but one of feelings.

Finally I was calm, embraced by a darkness that had not yet turned completely black as I was sitting in front of her: grandmother. She was nodding approvingly.

"Good," she said, "Very good. Though your fear of the dark, that has stopped you before, you have managed to bring yourself here. I am proud of you."

I bowed my head and she led my hands up to my tied hair to release it. In my hands was now a hair band that was being twisted and turned as grandmother spoke.

"Life is like this hair band," she said," It can be twisted and turned. You can stretch it, but only so far. Knots can be made, but they can also be untied, as long as you know how.

"To make out your own glitches is not hard to do either." She gave me a significant look and I snorted.

"You are referring to my hair."

She laughed before she kept talking," Yes, I am."

The worry within me started to stir and I was reminded of something: Edward.

I told grandmother about everything that had happened between us since I first saw him in the cafeteria the other day up until the last time I laid eyes on him in the office building. She seemed especially interested in the details of my observant mind reader discovery.

Once done, she sat perfectly still in thoughtful silence. Finally, she looked up.

"You must look beyond what you see," she told me seriously. I sat frozen in shocked silence before I burst out in laughter.

"Did you just quote Rafiki from the lion king?" I asked between laughter and snorts. She waited for me to calm down as she smiled ruefully at the sight of me laughing so hard.

"Just stay calm," she told me after a while, "everything is going to be fine." I thought about the little child and the vegetable woman. "They will be taken good care of. Go now, you have to get back."

The days had gone by and eventually both Frey and I had accustomed to new routines, as well as made new friends. At least Frey had.

I had stopped worrying about if I was going to see Edward again or not. As far as I knew he had dropped out of school to elope with some girl his family did not approve of, or become a mafia boss.

Who knows? His siblings probably did, but I was not about to walk up to them and ask. They were, for the time being, my observation subjects. Even though I would like to talk to them considering I was the same to them, though I felt more like a victim as all I received were cold, hard and curious glares.

At least Edwards' disappearance benefited me with being handed the chance to keep track of my life instead of concentrating on his. Mike, as well as Eric and a boy named Tyler had been faithful to me, just like I foresaw, but their ongoing flirting and too friendly attitudes made it hard for me to befriend them.

I tried not to think of Edward during the week but it was not as easy as it should have been, having his siblings entering the cafeteria every day like nothing happened did nothing to ensure the fall of my curiosity level, instead it caused it to rise.

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet. I think it made an impacted on how my weekend was going to be like because it stayed at the same level as the weather: quiet and uneventful. As a time passer I was out in the forest most of the time, climbing trees and conversing with spirits that had something to tell.

A handful of people greeted me in the parking lot on Monday morning: the majority stared at me a lot like they had my first day here.

In English we had a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights, a book I had read more times than I could count so I was not too worried about it. Mike took a seat at my side, like always, and class finished smoothly. As we stepped out I was met by a rush of cold wind that bit at my cheeks and nose. The air was filled with swirling bits of white and people were running around, shouting excitedly and throwing wet balls of compact flakes at each other.

My mood swung right up and I ran out in the cold weather to bend down quickly and gathered enough snow to make my own snowball. As I finished I noticed that Mike had ran after me and was now standing with his mouth open as he stared in awe at the kids running about with wet mush in their hear.

"Wow," Mike said, "It's snowi-"

He was cut off for he had been hit with a big, squishy ball of wet snow in the back of his head. As we both turned around to see who the shooter was I noted that Eric was walking away, with his back to us, in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike had the same suspicions as I so he bent down to start gathering snow but I was too fast. I had already slung my hand back and thrown it hitting Eric right on top of his head.

He turned around and gave me an incredulous look once he managed to come to the conclusion that I was the one who threw hit him. Mike had the same face.

"Nice shot," he said.

"Thanks," I answered merrily before my vision disappeared and I was almost choking on snow.

The morning was filled with excited chatter from the students: apparently it was the first snowfall of the year. I, as well as most of the students, sat throughout classes with dripping hair from snow fights during breaks.

I walked alertly to the cafeteria after Spanish class, Jessica was walking in front of me, chatting with a friend: apparently my comment had made a huge impact on what could have been a blissfully shallow friendship.

Right before I walked inside the doors I was hit in the head by yet another melting ball of snow. Mike laughed as he caught up with me, ice melting the spikes on his hair. We talked animatedly about the snow as we stepped in line to bye food and I glanced to the table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze in surprise. There were five people at the table.

My heart was beating a little faster than usual and my sudden stop caused Mike to bump into me, as he was not paying much attention to what he was doing.

"Bella?" he asked, "What's wrong?" I forced my eyes to snap back to Mike and I reached up to ruffle his hair.

"Do not sound so worried, Mike," I chose a bottle of water and stepped forward in the line to pay for it.

"Aren't you going to eat anything? If you're having trouble with money…" He still sounded worried, even though I told him not to be. I raised a brow at him.

"Do not get any ideas, Mike. I am simply not hungry, that is all," I told him reassuringly and stepped out of the line to walk to my usual, empty table.

"Wanna' sit with us today?" Mike called after me. I did not know if I wanted to sigh or laugh.

"No, it is quite alright." As I walked to my table I observed the Cullens and Hales. The boys were laughing as the hair on top of their heads were glistening with dripping wet snow; Emmett was shaking his head in the direction of the girls, splashing melting snow all over them as they were squealing and trying, desperately, to protect their brand named clothes, shoes and hair. Edward and Jasper were laughing their asses off at the sight and it seemed, to my disappointment, that Edward had not notice me enter the room. They looked to be protectively placed in a bubble that circulating a feeling of superior beings. It was like looking into another dimension.

I sat down by my usual table, turning so I was able to face them without looking too suspicious. Edward was even more beautiful than I remembered, the image that had been tormenting my mind during the past week of him had given him no justice; Edward was a creature whose beauty was celestial.

During lunch I could feel several peoples' eyes on me, among them were Jessica Stanley's and Rosalie Hale's. Jessica looked at me out of jealousy because Mike gave me too much attention, and that was something we both agreed on. Her feelings for him made it even harder for us to even talk things through: I wanted to tell her that what she felt for Mike was not remotely close to what I felt about him. But I know that she would not listen, nor would she believe me, so I let the matter slide.

Miss Rosalie Hale had been difficult for me to read, it was a task that turned out to be nearly impossible for me to deal with. Though she did not pay me much mind, she did pay me some and I noticed that. I wondered what she was thinking, why she was staring at me with such repugnance, her exquisite face was expressionless as she tried, but failed to stare me down.

Edward did not pay me much mind during lunch, he left together with his family, dumping their untouched food in the trash can. As soon as they had left the cafeteria the bell rung - it was time for biology.


	5. Rogue car

**A/N: You have GOT to admit that I was way faster this time.**

* * *

><p>As I walked to the classroom I was anticipating something to happen; something big. I could be wrong, of course, but that did not keep me from fantasizing of what could be in store for me. The things I imagined were all preposterous, yet very amusing, which led to me entering the classroom in a dreamy state. I did not notice any of the students surrounding the closed off, scientific and above all gloomy room for I was more than enchanted by my significantly vivid imagination.<p>

As I approached my seat I noticed that Edward was not in his, and so my eidolons flew out the window, along with my anticipations for something grand to occur. If Edward was not to attend class I strongly believed that nothing would change during my endless irritation for dog like creatures and not too interesting happenings.

I brought out my books and placed them on top of the desk, my hand resuming their usual position I kept them in during classes as I folded them on top of my notebook. I stared out the window to admire the white fluffy balls of frozen water, each one unique and extraordinary as they glistened in the light coming from behind the thick and heavy clouds that were covering the sky. The students were terribly loud in the background of my mind but the sound of their enthusiastic cheers made a beautiful contrast to the picture behind the translucent glass.

I did not notice the chair to my left being pulled out as someone made to sit down until I heard an angelic, quiet voice; musical even as he greeted me.

"Hello," he said.

I looked up, baffled at the sound of his voice as it collided with my ears and registered in my mind; it was more than I could ever dream of. As it gave me a reaction I did not expect, it made me feel a pleasant warmth build in my nether regions. Apparently it also affected my speaking abilities for I did not find myself able to answer him.

His aura was careful as he sat at the edge of his seat, though his chair was angled towards me. His hair was still dripping wet from the snow fights and the madness still held him captive.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued, "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Isabella Swan." Though his spirit was still tainted by the insanity it was lighter than it had been previously.

As I had been captivated by his gracious features and dazzlingly hypnotizing aura I was still aware of the fact that I had yet to give the man an answer. He did not have to wait for long.

"Yes, it is a pleasure to finally be able to speak with you, Edward Cullen," I answered him and offered my hand. He looked at it and hesitated. "Is something the matter?" I asked him, not knowing if I should retract my hand or not and feeling utterly moronic.

"No, it's just that my hands are very cold… from the snow," he explained, and so my hand was back in its usual place. I started to turn back toward the headboard.

"I understand."

It seemed he wanted to continue our small conversation for I noticed his aura turning frustrated and his body language was fidgety. I turned my head toward him again and gave him a pleasant smile, telling him silently that there was no need for him to hurry and come up with a new topic. He blinked and looked down to his hands, looking to be in deep thought. I decided to bring him out of his misery.

"Do you use contact lenses, Edward Cullen?" I asked him, having noticed that the color of his eyes had changed radically compared to our previous encounters. He looked confused as his eyebrows pulled together slightly and his aura stirred.

"No."

"I see, your eyes seem to be lighter than I recall them to have been."

"Oh," was Mr. Cullen's brilliant answer before Mr. Banner decided to grace his students with his presence and entered the classroom. I listened intently as he explained the lab we would be doing today; working as lab partners we were going to label the slides of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented, as they were out of order. We were not allowed to turn to our knowing friends, the books, for help or advice. Mr. Banner would be walking around in twenty minutes to see who had it right.

"Get started," he commanded.

"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked, flashing me a crooked smile that I could most definitely imagine every girl in the world falling hard for. I smiled back at him, mischievously.

"Always." He looked caught off guard as I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly, knowing what I was looking for as I had done this lab before.

My assessment was confident, "Prophase." I made to write it down but Mr. Cullen decided to interfere.

"Do you mind if I look?" he asked me, and as my pen was at the brink of colliding with the surface of the paper he suddenly snatched it out of my hand. I froze; my hand stopping dead in its tracks and I slowly turned my head to glare at the Cullen.

"Yes?" My voice was dangerously low, Edward started to stutter.

"Well- I… I mean, I… Um…" I raised an eyebrow at him and reached out to retrieve my pen. His aura shifted.

"May I have that back, please?" I asked and he followed my request without saying anything, though I did notice the way he was careful not to touch me.

"May I?" he countered, gesturing to the microscope. I nodded, scribbling the answer onto our worksheet as he did. He spoke after three letters.

"Prophase." I snapped my gaze up to his to find that he was smiling at me. I stared, mouth open.

"Yes, I know." He chuckled softly and I turned back to the worksheet and finished writing the answer.

I heard Edward quickly changing the slide. I looked up after having written the answer at the same time he did while he murmured "Anaphase," and wrote it down as well.

"May I?" I asked. He smirked and pushed the microscope in my direction, allowing me better access. I looked through the eyepiece, saw something that could only mean one thing; he was right. I smiled at the challenge and asked him to hand me slide three. He did and I swiftly replaced the second one with it and then peered through the eyepiece, yet again, hurrying a bit as I wanted to get it over with as fast as possible.

"Interphase," I told him, sliding the microscope toward him before he could ask for it. He chuckled again and took a brief peek, nodding and writing it down. We finished before anybody else was near to it and as I saw Mike and his lab partner having difficulties, trying to cheat by having the book open under their desk, we lapsed into an awkward silence.

I noted that his hands were clenched into fists and he was still sitting by the edge of his seat, even though he had seemed to be much more relaxed today than any other. Mr. Banner then appeared behind our chairs, eyeing the papers of our finished assignment intently.

With mocking suspicion, he asked, "So, Edward… did you not feel the need to let Bella have a go with the microscope?"

"Isabella", Mr. Cullen corrected innocently. "Actually, she identified three of the five."

"… Oh." Mr. Banner seemed unsure of how to react – I decided to help.

"I was in an advanced placement program back in Phoenix. I have previously done this lab, though we used whitefish blastula instead of onion root." I smiled mirthfully. He still seemed insecure. "I believe the other students are in greater need of your assistance than we are, Mr. Banner, and I think you should tend to them."

I could feel Edward's amusement, it lit up the whole room practically, and Mr. Banner muttered something about it being good that I and Edward were lab partners before making his much appreciated leave. After he left I smiled at Edward, feeling the anticipation sneak its way back.

He felt pressured as I stared at him; I could almost _see_ how the wheels in his head started going on over drive as he tried to find something to talk about. "So," he started,"are you liking the weather?"

"Indeed, I find it quite easy to enjoy." I smiled, not knowing what to say myself. "Though I do miss the sun," I added longingly as I sighed.

"You don't like the cold." It had been more of an assumption than a question Edward had stated. I looked at him, wondering why he was feeling disappointment and relief at the same time.

"No, I do. If I were to choose between freezing and burning to death I would prefer the earlier." He stared at me, and the confusion was about to consume him before I answered his unspoken question. "In the cold, there would be no pain." To my amazement Edward felt relief, happiness as well as repulsion.

"It seems I have made you confused," I stated, waiting for Edward to explain why. He seemed to have difficulty finding the right words.

"Yes, slightly," he said, "I guess you could say I am having a difficult time reading you."

"I think I am able to bet that you are not the only one feeling so about me. I am also willing to bet a lot more on the fact that you find it extremely irritating." I smirked at him.

"Indeed," he answered, a mischievous and crooked smile curling the corners of his oh so perfect lips. "But perhaps you can help me with that."

Intrigue.

"How so, Mr. Cullen?" I asked, leaning toward him slightly. He seemed to notice.

"Firstly, you can call me Edward. Secondly, you can tell me what made you move to Forks."

"My mother sent me here because of the simple fact that she does not like being affected by people who do not accept who I am. My beliefs contradict theirs and they are therefore incredibly judgmental."

He looked confused, staring at me as if I had left him hanging. "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you figured that out yet, Edward? I am not quite normal among these students myself." I knew he understood my ambiguousness. Then I noticed the madness again, it was growing. The red color was overpowering the black and his golden eyes were growing deeper.

"You mean to say that you are different?"

"Extremely so."

"Tell me more, Isabella."

"My mother and her husband were treated with hostility when simply walking the streets. You see, word had spread about my religious orientation and rumors were turning ugly; lies, most of them, though some were very true. My mother asked me to end what the people of Phoenix called 'devil worship' but how could I turn my back on my own, lone faith? Mother threatened to send me here, to live with my father in a desperate attempt to straighten me out and when I gladly agreed I was soon on a plane heading to, what I would like to call, an accelerating small town."

"I see," Edward said simply, looking like he was expecting more. Did he think I was a book?

"And that's all," I confirmed.

His gaze became evaluative. "You put on a good show," he said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

I turned to face the front, as I had been silenced.

"Am I wrong?"

Silence.

"I didn't think so," he murmured smugly.

Mr. Banner called the class to attention and both I and Edward turned to listen. What Mr. Banner had to say I already knew; he was simply showing on transparencies on the overhead projector what I had already seen in the microscope.

Edward was, again, sitting by the edge of his seat, as far away from me as possible. To the people surrounding us it would seem as if nothing was wrong, but I was close enough to be able to notice the small things; his unbelievably tightened fists or the clenching of his jaw. The insanity of his spirit was still present but what used to have been darkening from red to black was turning into a clear shade of pure crimson. I ruminated over what the color could mean in Edward's case, as every soul varied from one another.

The bell rang and, like he had last Monday, Edward rushed out of the room. _Well, he was in a hurry. Again._

Mike skipped quickly to my side as I rose from my seat, probably having in mind to follow me to class, like the trusted pet he was. If I was ever to be blind I was sure to count on him. "That was awful," he exclaimed. "I thought I was about to kill myself, if Mr. Banner hadn't been so damned close."

"Indeed, I found it was dreadful as well."

"They all looked exactly the same! You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner." I hesitated, deliberating my answer.

"… I suppose I was." We were pulling our jackets on now.

"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," Mike said, trying to sound casual though his aura gave him away.

Smiling, I added, "He was in a good mood." Mike was feeling a remarkable amount of jealousy.

"I wonder what was with him last Monday."

For the rest of gym I thought of what Mike had said; what had been with Edward last Monday, and what had changed during the past week. It made me distracted during P.E. and I was glad over Mike's enthusiasm of playing the part as my shield.

I sent my mother a quick message as I came home, cooked some dinner for my father. I then went out to the backyard of the house, resting my back against a tree trunk and sitting on the soft damp grass, as it had started raining on my way back home. The snow had been consumed by the rain, amalgateing with each other and creating a cold layer of snow mixed with water over the usually wet ground. Frey seemed to be feeling the need to be close to me from the moment I came home.

We slept through the night without much interruption, though I did have an interesting dream; I dreamt that I had huge ears. It could be rendered in many ways, but I choose to think that I had heard, or was going to hear, something that I shouldn't.

I was woken up the next morning by a bright light coming from my window. As I went out of bed and approached the dim light I noticed Frey standing on the sill, staring out in the… still cold weather. My assumption, or hope, for some sun was terribly wrong as I was met with a sight I had not seen in many other places.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of snow and the water on the ground from the previous evening had turned into slippery ice. I sighed, wondering why I was feeling so tired. As I put on some clothes I started thinking of what the red color that had devoured Edward the other day could possibly mean. I thought about this as I ate my breakfast, set out some food for Frey, put on my jacket and boots and went out to my car. I thought of it as I drove carefully to school; it turned out to be easier than I had presumed.

Thinking of Edward made me excited and dreamy. I was trying to distract myself from thinking of Edward, since it made my mind go a bit hazy, by thinking of Mike, Eric and the other teenage boys here and the difference in how they reacted to me compared to the ones I had been in contact with in earlier stages of my life.

In Phoenix they had been repulsed by my, oh so different habits and abnormal ways, while here they seemed to respond to it in a more energetic and positive manner. When I got out of my car I noticed why I had had so little trouble maintaining the wheels of my car on the road; on the back tires of my Beatle something silver caught my eye and I walked to the back of my truck to examine them. Silver chains zigzagged, in diamond shapes, around them. Charlie had gone up early today.

While I had been occupied with examining the wheels of my car, I had remained completely oblivious to the dark blue van that was about to lose its grip on the road. The high pitched screeching of tires uncontrollably skidding across the concrete of the ground screeched through my ears and I snapped my gaze up.

The adrenalin rush made me able to not only notice the van but several things simultaneously. Instead of everything becoming blurry and my mind making everything go in slow motion, like in the movies, everything went remarkable faster.

I saw Edward Cullen, standing by his silver Volvo four cars away from me in the parking lot, his features looking to be etched in stone in a mask of horror. His face stood out among a mass of faces that were yet to register what was about to happen, they had not passed the state of shock. But of more immediate importance was the van that was skidding, its tires locked and squealing against the breaks sending the van launching towards me in a moment of breathless suspense.

The truck was going to collide with the back corner of my beetle; the only thing between them was I. There was not even time for me to close my eyes. Just before I heard the shattering crackle of the van folding around the back of my car something hard crashed into my side, though from the wrong angle I had expected.

I collided with ground, my head having hit the pavement behind the tan car I had parked next to. Pinned down by a pair of cool and powerful hands I saw that the van was, yet again, approaching. It had curled gratingly and was still spinning and sliding along the slippery surface of the cold ground toward me.

As it was about to strike me and my attempted savior I noted one chalk white hand releasing me to meet with the side of the van and at the same time I acted on instinct and closed my eyes.

"Warrior, protect and guard me and the man intending for my rescue," I mumbled quickly under my breath as I saw him appear behind my closed eyelids and felt a slight shove when the car collided with the shield. I could hear high pitched screams and a lot of yelling around me. I peeked through small slits in my eyes and was met with the face of Edward Cullen not too far from my own. Crimson was glowing around him as I felt his grip around my waist loosen. The yelling around us was practically swallowing my mind whole, but more clearly than all the yelling I could hear Edward's low, frantic voice in my ear.

"Are you alright, Isabella?" And then it dawned to me.

Red, "It's passion."

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><p><strong>AN: I was faster! Admit it; you love me for the cliff hanger Cx**


	6. L'hôpital

**A/N: I am so sorry for making you wait this extremely long for this chapter. Please forgive me!**

**Anyhow - I sincerely hope that you all won't be disappointed, if so do not hesitate to tell me so! **

**And I have an _IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT_; I am planning on changing the name of this fic... though I have absolutely no idea as to what I am going to change it into, and this is were you come in. See, I want you to come with different alternatives - what do you want this fanfic to be called?**

**Now that I have planted that idea inside your pretty little heads, on with the reading!**

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><p>"Isabella," Edwards voice cut through the ballistic shrieks and shocked howls of the students covering the ground of damp concrete in the school parking lot as he asked me; "are you alright?" His voice was clouded with worry and concern as he urged me to tell him how I was feeling.<p>

"Yes, I'm fine," I told him, still gawking at him in wonder as his aura shifted and a faint glow of pink lit up the red in it. I made to sit up but his strong hands held me down to the ground.

"Be careful; I think you hit your head pretty hard," his low, musical voice informed me. I froze, trying to feel if any damage had been inflicted upon my head but was not able to feel any throbbing or sharp jerks of pain – my cranium seemed to have done its job fairly well.

"No," I told him and tried to sit up again but his arms were still wrapped around me, and being that we were stuck pretty close together in the small space between the two cars I had thought were going to be the death of me I did not think anything of the intimacy. My body did all the thinking, considering the close proximity we were sharing physically. "My head is fine, Edward," I told him firmly, slightly irritated by how fragile he seemed to find me as.

"Isabella." We looked at each other, staring into the others eyes and looking for any sign of the other's defeat.

I could hear sirens in the distance as students bombarded us with instructions, "Stay still!", "Don't move!", "Get Tyler out of the van!"

"How did you get to me so fast?" I asked once I remembered seeing Edward standing by his car as the blue van had been skidding my way, which was nowhere near me and at a distance a mere human would never have been able to get to me in such a short period of time as he had. His expression became guarded but he recovered quickly.

"I was standing right next to you, Isabella," he tried, though failed miserably, to convince me.

"No," I answered him slowly, "you were standing by your car. On the other side of the-"

"Isabella, please," Edward interrupted,"I was standing right next to you."

"Will you tell me about it later?"

"Fine," he spat once the paramedics reached us. Unfortunately I was placed on a very uncomfortable strecher and had a neck brace clasped around my neck, while Sir Edward casually stode forth to sit in the passanger seat of the ambulance. My father was quickly in place by my side, having driven to school and arriving not long after the paramedics in complete hysteria.

"I am fine, father, you have nothing to worry about. Though these paramedics will if I am not allowed to turn my neck freely in about two minutes." I inquired, leering towards them while they prepared for our departure. My father followed my gaze before looking back to me.

"Let them do their job and I'm sure you'll be okay," he smiled paciently, rather trying to convince himself than me, I presumed.

"I already am okay." The doors of the ambulance car slammed shut and we were on our way. Once at the hospital Edward left and I was being rolled into a long white hospital room, white curtains hanging from the roof to create the illusion of privacy for each guest hidden behind them. The atmosphere was heavy and my chest hurt because of it; most of the people in this building were in pain, as well as the ones who had been here before them. The people who had passed here were mostly people who did not feel that they were ready, though their souls knew better. But the ones who had found peace in this place had left after them a veil of calm in an attempt to help the once that were thought of as lost.

Tyler was distracting me, though on a level slightly too high for my liking. He was begging for my forgiveness, inquiring how he could repay his debt to me considering he had come incredibly close to liquidizing me with his monstrous car.

That loving father of mine rushed into the room while I was awaiting my release from the heart crushing area of the hurt, screaming for a reason unknown to me.

"Bella? Are you alright?"

"Why are you so stressed father?" I asked him, wondering why we were re-enacting this particular part of the scenario but before he was able to answer Tyler was, yet again, asking for a way to equalize ourselves. My father pulled the curtain hanging from the roof shut in between us, quieting him efficiently. I decided to get some sleep, considering the circumstances I was to be imprisoned for a while and the pain in my chest was starting to throb. My father left to go and speak with a nurse after ordering Tyler to remain silent and let me sleep. A few minutes passed before I felt a presence in the room, a strong presence.

"Is she asleep?" I heard Edward whisper as he sat down by the foot of the bed, making it sink under his weight. I opened my eyes to observe his much too carefree expression.

"It is quite impossible to sleep with this kind of presence surrounding me, thank you very much." He smiled. "How is it that you are able to walk around freely while I and Tyler over here," I gestured toward the boy, "are forced to entrapment."

"It is all about having the right connections." Edward grinned crookedly and suddenly the door to the room was thrown open. A blonde male figure strode gracefully across the squeaky clean floor, his pale skin almost glistening under the gleaming light of the fluorescent source of illumination. He was excruciatingly handsome, though he looked to be tired considering the dark shadows encircling his eyes. Judging by his apperence one could only assume that he was the father of the gorgeous ginger whom had saved me earlier this morning, the one that my own father had tried to describe during an awkward dinner a few evenings before. He walked toward my bed and picked up a clip-board, staring at the sheets attached to it. I stared at him, oogling almost at this amazing aura that indicated him to be something out of the ordinary, much like your handsomeness with bronze locks.

"So, Miss Swan," the blonde adressed me. "how are you feeling?" He smiled at me, his voice warm and considerate. His aura and body language told me he was feeling calm and almost completely comfortable, if you overlooked the darkness by his throat. It made him seem uneasy but he ignored it quite well, hiding his discomfort.

"I am feeling completely fine, doctor." I answered him without looking away from his face, irritation licking my spine. He stared back for a second before walking over to look over my X-rays. Why would someone X-ray me after such a small accident, you could ask yourself - Tyler was in much greater need of their assistance than I, and yet they poured it over me.

"Your X-rays look good," he said absentmindedly. "Edward informed me of what happened - I believe that you hit your head pretty hard."  
>"It is perfectly fine," my voice was calm, though I did sneer at Edward whose aura was glowing pink and lips were pulled up into a crooked grin. His eyes were playful as I scowled at him.<p>

The doctor, whom I presumed was a certan Dr. Cullen, stode over to me and probed his cool fingers lightly along my skull. I winced, feeling a sudden pain inflicting on my mind, clouding it as the anguish oppressed. Dr. Cullen did not seem to understand that this ail had not been imposed onto me directly, it had rather enforced itself upon me from his own earlier aches. "Tender?" he asked.

"I guess you are," had been my reply. His eyebrows knitted together for a moment but he quickly pulled his hands back.

"Well, your father is in the waiting room - you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."

"Am I not allowed to return to school?" I asked him, confused to the core.

"Maybe you should take it easy today," he smiled. I thought about it, considering my options - if I were to go back I was sure to be assaulted by the students of my small school. I chose not to argue against the kindhearted doctor and gave him a simple nod in place of what could have been an aggressive comment and beginning of a heated argument from my part. "Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested.

"I am sure I will be just fine without it," I assured.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr Cullen said, smiling as he signed my chart with a flourish. A thought hit me and I decied to act on it, beeming.

"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me," I turned to the subject of my statement.

"Oh, well, yes," Dr Cullen agreed, suddenly increadibly occupied with the papers in front of him. He looked away to the next bed, Tylers, and stepped toward it. A whisper of thruth floated through me: the doctor was in on it. He spoke to Tyler next, telling him that he were to stay with them at the hospital for a while longer. I soared past Edward, stopping briefly by his side.

"I would like to have word with you in private," I told him and continued toward the door, not bothering to look behind me to make sure he was comming along. My steps were light yet determined. I waltzed around a corner and stopped there. As I turned I noticed that Edward was not there. I stood still for a few moments, staring, waiting. My leggs decided on their own to start to throb so dicided to take a seat on the floor, my leggs crossed.

Edward walked around the corner and saw me sitting there, he looked confused. I smiled at him, "I am glad you decided to come." He looked away as he leaned against the wall and I stood back up.

"What do you want?" he asked, his tone was cutting, his jaw was clenched and he was consumed by darkness.

"You promised me an explanation," I reminded him.

"Bella, you hit your head - you don't know what you're talking about."

"There is nothing wrong with my head, Edward Cullen." He waited. "All I want to know," I continued, "is why I am lying for you."

"Won't you tell me what happened?" Edward snapped, catching me off guard. I wasn't sure what he meant as in my mind everything, except Edwards speed and him hitting a van out of the way, was completely normal. So I did what anyone would do - I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do not play with me, Isabella," he said through clenched teeth. "I was not the only one of us who did something inappropriate in public." He looked at me significantly.

"So you admit it." He narrowed his eyes at me, I mimicked his look. "I am not going to tell anybody," I whispered.

He looked surprised, "Then why does it matter?"

"I don't lie, dear Edward, it does not fall naturally to me. I'd rather speak the truth than anything else, so I think I deserve an explanation if I am to lie for you."

"Why can't you just thank me and get over it?"

"Thank you. But I am not letting this go."

"Neither am I."

"Well... then I hope you enjoy disappointment, because I have no idea what you think I am hiding." I finished with an insinuating amount of susceptibility, though silence reigned him. My only answer was the suppressive shift of his aura and the gleam to his eyes that together created a language I interpreted correctly, I hoped. It guessed that it, for some reason, would lead to undesired consequences to press any further into my matters. I'd had enough for one morning to spend any more energy on this mutual investigation anyhow. I turned away and walked to the waiting room where my father was awaiting my arrival, leaving Edward behind me.

"What did the doctor say?" my father asked me, scrutinizing my clearly unfazed physical condition. My mental one was in all but assent.

"Dr. Cullen said that I am completely fine and that I am allowed to go home." He nodded and I urged him out of the hospital, desperate to get out of the suffocating air filling the hospital grounds. We rode home in silence and there my father advised me to contact my mother - she seemed to have found the spreading news worrisome.

I was not feeling happy that my father had called her, though nevertheless sought her on the phone. She was furious. As foretold she interrogated me ferociously, demanding to know if I had done anything suspicious - I hadn't. Her prejudiced examination however was nothing but a warm breeze brushing my nerves. I was much too consumed by the mystery that Edward presented, and starting to become more than a little obsessed with him.

Frey seemed to be feeling my discomfort after my visit at the hospital; the massive globe of effervescing cutting energy still tailed me and Frey was purring like crazy, seemingly worried. I decided to try and do a chaste cleansing before going to bed, knowing a complex ritual would only drain more of my sleep which would already be substantially shortened by the secrecy that dwelled with the Cullens.

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><p><strong>AN: It is sooo late over here right now and I have to get up for school in about... five and a half hours but I just want you to know why I have not been posting much lately - it is because school just started. There, I said it! Me no like blaming others but it is not my fault! Promise! **

**I love your reviews so, my dear dear readers who are so extremely close to my heart, don't forget to review... **

**With love, Element of art.**


	7. Dream

**A/N: Okay – I'M BACK! Big time.**

I had dreamt of Edward. His skin was radiating, glowing and he was partly turned away from me. In my dreams I tried to catch up with him, as he was running, but I never seemed to be able to reach him. In the beginning of every dream he was staring at me, his eyes shining scarlet and a pleasant smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. I had asked him if he was using contacts and then he started to turn. At the end of the last dream I had I had been able to reach out and have my fingertips grace the back of one of his perfect hands. He had looked back, his face pulled into and excruciating grimace of disgust and fear. As his hand had grabbed my wrist, moving too fast for me to register the movement itself and instead reacting to the agonizing pain his hold inflicted in my flesh, I had woken up.

Still breathing heavily I sat up in my bed, running my hand through my hair and feeling my sweaty scalp by the roots of my hair shafts. I got up and out of my bed, legs still shaking, to go take a shower. The sun had yet to sail the sky and so I figured I had enough time to wash myself off.

I let the water run for a few seconds, staring at myself in the mirror as I waited for the water to vapor the room, creating a humid, warm cloud of steam in the bathroom. I looked tired, something that was understandable considering my lack of sleep the last few days – it was seemingly turning into a torturous habit.

I entered the shower, letting the water consume my hair and make its way down my body, not leaving an inch of my skin dry and making sure to soothe my muscles and soul. I thought of the day after the accident, of how Edward had been showing very much hostility toward me, avoiding eye contact and seeming to feel that Mr. Banner had an incredibly interesting view on the study of living organisms.

He had paid me no mind. No mind at all. His family had ignored me as well - not even Rosalie Hale had cared to grant me the satisfaction of a single glance. For some reason my life seemed to be moving in slow-motion, every sound around me turning into a buzzing murmur, like bees under water. Mike, my trusting lifelong pet, was trying desperately to capture my attention, to catch my eye and tear them away from where they always seemed to wander.

I banged my fist into the damp wall I had been resting my forehead to, water still making trails along my back, thighs and stomach. I was frustrated, now for the first time in a long time I felt utterly alienated. I had thought, after our conversation in class the day before the accident that we were, finally, on speaking terms. I had thought that I would be given the chance to solve the mystery that was Edward Cullen and my feelings toward him. But no.

My head fell back, clear fluid traveling across my face and making its way along the rest of my frame, musically landing on the floor to end its journey in pipes. The week after my return Mike seemed to be worrying about me, as had a lot of other students that believed themselves to know me. Tyler still apologized, going on about a way to repay me even though I still, more firmly than ever, denied him to do so.

I stepped out from underneath the shower nozzle still thinking about Edward, about that first day when I tried to talk to him.

"Hello, Edward," I had greeted, expecting an answer. Yet, all he had done was turn his head slightly in my direction and given me a tight nod. That had been the last contact we shared, even though we sat approximately five inches away from one another every day in class. He always sat as far away from me as possible.

I dried my hair with a towel as I walked back into my seemingly cold room, Frey snaking her way around my bare legs. I was still captivated by this man's aura though; it was too magnificent to pass up the chance of observing it up close every day. I knew for a fact that he did not acknowledge my presence, but I did not know if he did not notice it. The ways his spirit was changing could be caused by something other than myself, but still I could not prevent my trail of thought from wandering in dangerous directions; _maybe my mere presence has an effect on him._

My father did not seem to notice any change in my behavior pattern, nor did mother through the few emails we had shared. Mike seemed to appreciate the little contact I and Edward shared after that day; he had been relieved to know that I had not found Edwards's heroic courage in saving me to be impressive. It had encouraged him to be slightly more forward in our relationship, staying by my side, making small talk before biology started, all the while paying less and less attention to Edward's existence.

The snow soon melted, taking away all traces of that horrid and dangerous day away with it. As I arrived at school Mike talked of a trip to the beach and invited me to come along, of course, but I declined. Even though Jessica Stanley was not very fond of me I had no reason to feel any kind of antagonism toward her and, therefore, I thought giving her yet another teenage reason to hate me was simply unnecessary.

As Spanish class ended and I started to gather my books I felt a sharp stab being inflicted upon me through spiritual connection. Looking up I noticed Jessica Stanley glaring at me as she passed, her books in her hands and her bag thrown over her shoulder. That was peculiar, having Jessica glare at me – usually she settles for ignoring me.

The answer to my question arrived shortly after lunch the same day, though I had been pretty sure something was wrong already during lunch as Mike had been incredibly quiet and Jessica had seated herself as far away from him as possible. He stayed quiet as he walked me to class, as well as when we entered the classroom. He did not make any kind of verdict what so ever until I was seated in my chair, Edward already in his seat beside me.

"So…" he started, staring at the floor. "Jessica asked me to the spring dance." The spring dance – the posters had been harassing the walls of the school buildings for weeks, making sure nobody missed it. Even my father knew about it. I waited a while longer, for I did not want Mike to be interrupted. Once I understood he was not going to continue and tell me more without a reply I answered.

"Well, that is splendid news, Mike," I told him, trying my best to sound enthusiastic and happy, although Sir. Edward's magnifying aura hovered over me like a ghost with a grudge. Not necessarily with a hostile purpose. "You will most certainly have a wonderful time together," I smiled, wondering why his aura was shifting uncomfortably, his body following its lead.

"Yeah…" my reaction toward his announcement did not seem to have been the one he was looking for. "I told her I'd think about it." I could feel his guilt before I heard it in his voice. He glanced up at me.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, though I already knew the answer. He blushed fiercely and looked down to the floor again, I felt Edward tense by my side.

"I was wondering if… if, maybe, you had been planning to ask me." I had not been expecting that one, and me hesitating my answer was not helping the situation. I noted Edward turning his head slightly in my direction from the corner of my eye. _Hm, what to do…_

"No," I told him.

"No, what?" he asked.

"No, I had not been planning on asking you to the spring dance."

"Have you already asked someone?" I wondered briefly if Edward noticed Mike looking his way as he asked me this.

"No," I informed him, not feeling the need to hide anything from the boy, "I was not planning on attend at all, actually."

"Why not?" Mike asked.

Of course he had to ask. I did not feel the need to hurt the poor kid so I tried to let him down easy with making a quick decision and therefore creating an excuse; "I am going to Seattle that Saturday." I had been meaning to go in any case, feeling as though my reading supply was starting to dry out.

"And you can't go another weekend?"

"Of course I can," I told him matter-of-factly. "But I chose to go _that _weekend. Now, you should go and find Jessica – tell her that you gladly accept her invitation. It is incredibly rude to make a girl wait."

"Yeah, you're right," he mumbled before retreating from my table and walking to his chair.

I sat up straight and closed my eyes, keeping my hands folded on top of my notebook, as usual, and tried desperately to relax and urge away the pressure being inflicted upon my psyche. I glared at Edward who was staring intently at me.

"Stop that," I ordered. "It gives me headaches."

We stared at each other and I could not dismiss the beauty of his liquid honey coloured eyes, long eyelashes and sharp eyebrows framing them. His sharp features were probably strong enough to cut through steel, and I notices how a few stands of his chaotic hair had escaped the rest of the bronze mass to cover parts of his pale forehead.

It was impossible to look away, even if I wanted to. His aura started to stir as his eyes darkened and the madness corrupted his spirit as it seemed to be having a hard time choosing between that and red. My hands started to shake.

"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher said and then waited for an answer to a question I had not heard.

"Krebs cycle," was Edward's brilliant answer and he reluctantly turned his gaze toward Mr. Banner.

As soon as his eyes freed me I shot them back to my book, trying to engross myself within its contents after finding the right paragraph in the text. I was feeling surprisingly modest and… shy, letting my hair work as a veil between myself and my dearest bronze locks as I frowned upon my timidity. I was feeling startled over the feelings that surged over me – simply because he happened to look at me for the first time in a few weeks. I could not let him affect me this strongly, I simply could not. It was pathetic. Unhealthy, even.

I tried hard to ignore the existence of his hovering, dynamic spirit, to ignore him. But it was hard, too hard, and so I settled for simply not showing him how present I was with his movements and changing in spiritual stirs. Soon the bell rung, signaling the end of class, and I made to accumulate my books, still seated facing forward.

"Bella?" Edward's voice whispered. Oh, I should not even have tried to imagine it for it would never have done him justice. It was deeper than any ocean, more musicale than any symphony and more bewilderingly unique than any other sound in the world and yet, its song was so familiar to me. It felt so comfortable and well known. I turned to him slowly, noticing how his eyes were focusing on my left hand. He looked… I did not know. His jaw was clenched, as were his hands, and his aura was corrupted by a murderous blaze. His brilliant eyes flared as well, a fragrance of his spirits grandeur gleaming through its colour. I let my eyes fall to my left hand and noticed four red stripes engraved into my skin, like someone had grabbed it.

"Are you speaking with me again?" I whisper, still gazing at my wrist as I though myself hearing Edward's voice utter the word _'sorry'._ I looked up only to have myself believe that my own eyes deceived me for they were met by Edward's sad smile, the humor in it never traveling further than to the corners of his oh so perfectly sculptured lips.

"Not exactly." I closed my eyes to take a deep breath through my nose, attempting to calm myself. He waited, patiently.

"Then," I said, still having my eyes closed. "Is there any particular reason behind you talking to me now, Mr. Cullen?"

"I'm sorry," he sounded sincere and I opened my eyes. "I know that I am behaving very rudely toward you, but it really is for the best." He looked dead serious, I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"It would be for the best if we are not friends," Edward clarified. "Trust me." I frowned at him, surprised that he demanded me to trust him, especially under these circumstances. I rose from my seat to stand behind it, hands resting on the back of my chair.

"Edward, I am not to trust you if you are not to trust me. I hope you can understand at least that." He stared at me, I stared back. I could feel how his aura fought with his reason. "You could not have prevented any of it from happening, you know," I informed him quietly and he snapped his gaze to mine.

"What?" I shifted my weight; arms crossed as I glanced around the room uncomfortably and then looked back to Edward. I did not like feeling uncomfortable, it did not feel right.

"You do not have the power to _see_ things; it would have been impossible for you to have prevented what happened." It was something any and everyone would know, but still I felt the need to tell him. That was probably my first stupid move when it came to this man.

"You have no," he started, teeth clenched as he rose, towering over me. "_idea_ what you are speaking of." He was standing inches away from me, I could feel his breath in my face as his menacing eyes glared down at me and for the first time in a long time, I felt how small I really was. I grabbed my books as soon as I was able to move again and waltzed out of the room.

Gym was passable. Basketball was on the schedule and Mike was in the way just as much as he usually is, grabbing any ball flying my way. This time I felt grateful toward him as my mind was incredibly occupied with thinking of dear Edward Cullen. It was a relief when class ended.

Quickly I scattered to the locker room and changed to hurriedly run to my car before anybody else was even out of their gym clothes. I did not know why but I knew that something was going to happen on this land and I was not going to like it. I did not stop once I rounded the corner and spotted a dark silhouette leaning against my white, newly upgraded car. I had had to replace the rear lights of it, as well as improve the paint.

My heart had been beating a little faster and I almost did not notice my feet quickening their pace even more. That stopped abruptly though as I saw it was only Eric, the boy who had been applauding me my first day at Forks High along with Mike.

"Hello, Eric," I greeted him, the feeling of wanting to get off the land increasing by the second.

"Hi, Bella," _Isabella, _I corrected inside my head.

"Can I help you with anything?" I asked him as I opened the door on the driver's side. His nervousness had completely devoured him and it made me uneasy.

"I… uh…" he stammered, tripping upon his own words. "I was just wondering…" I looked at him expectantly, my mind screaming at me to get out of there as soon as possible. "Do you want to go to the spring dance with me?" He shut his eyes hard, like a little boy asking the girl he had a crush on if she wanted to… _Oh, dear Lady, help me._

"Oh," I blinked, turning so that he would understand that he had my full attention. "I am sorry; I was under the impression that it was the ladies choice." I stared at him as he squirmed, as if though he was feeling uncomfortable in his own skin.

"No, I- It is…" he admitted. I tilted my head to the side. _Goddess why do I allure shy boys?_

"Thank you for the offer, Eric," I smiled at him. "But I am traveling to Seattle that Saturday."

"Oh," he said. "Okay. Next time them," he beamed and started to walk toward school. I stood still for a few moments, staring at his back and then I shook my head, trying to clear it. Edward passed my car then, looking straight ahead, his lips in a straight line and his aura glowing pink. I threw open my door and settled in the driver's seat, slamming the door behind me harder then necessary. I rested my forehead to the steering wheel, my hands squeezing it on either side of my head, leather creaking beneath my fingers. I do not feel like this. I never have before – frustrated and not knowing what to expect. I felt something warm tickling me cheek as it made a trail along it, dripping to create a moist circle on my dark jeans.

I dried my tear away and looked in the rearview mirror, but not really seeing what was reflected in it. Without giving it a thought at all I stomped on the gas pedal after having started my car and pulled out of my parking space only to hit the brakes just as quickly. The silver Volvo which was Edward's glided swiftly out of its own parking space, only to stop and stand in my way. He was waiting for his siblings. Sure, they were walking our way, but they had not gotten further than to the cafeteria.

I waited. Jumping, as I had been startled by the sound of somebody tapping the window on the passenger side of my car. I rolled it down.

"I am sorry Tyler," I gestured toward the Volvo in front of me, an apologetic smile on my face. "I cannot seem to be getting anywhere."

"Oh, I know…" He said, his focus completely on me as he smiled and leaned slightly into my car through the window. "I just thought I'd ask you something while we're stuck here."

_For the love Goddess, please let it be no more than a bad dream…_

"Do you want to ask me to the spring dance?" he continued.

"I beg your pardon?" I was baffled – _how?_ He seemed to be slightly shocked at my reaction. My voice had been a little harsher than what I had intended, so I cannot blame him for it. I sighed and then started again. "I will not be here for the event, unfortunately." I had to remind myself that it is not Tyler's fault he does not know of my patience already having reached its limit because of certain events.

"Yes, Mike told me about that," he oh so lamely admitted.

"Then why did you ask?" I could feel myself grow irritated.

He shrugged before answering. "I was hoping you just wanted to let him down easy." It seemed I had been wrong – it was his fault.

"You may leave now, Tyler," I turned forward and started to roll the passenger window back up, not caring if Tyler happened to get stuck in it. Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper were on their way into the car and before they sped away I could see Edward shaking, as if though he was laughing.

**A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I really believe that this is the best chapter so far, no?**


	8. Tiptoe quietly

**A/N: ElementOfArt, ready for combat! No, there will not be any kind of war is this chapter, I just thought that this greeting would be humorous… Let us skip the chit-chat, shall we?  
>Have a pleasant read, my lovelies, have a pleasant read…<strong>

**IsabellaPOV**

The morning was cold. I felt unusually stressed as I woke from my slumber to a day where the sky was covered by a thick layer of fluffy grey, and it was dark. Frey was curled up by my head, squirming as I rose from the comfort of my bed to get ready for school. I walked to the open window of my small room. The air poured in and I welcomed Skadi as she devoured my body, lifting my hair in multiple directions as the wind violently scattered papers over my floor and pulled on the fabric of my nightgown. Frey hissed. I took a deep breath then closed the window. Something was to be expected, and I knew my distress was not about to vanish just yet. I exclaimed an enormous sigh as I turned around; I was going to have to clean up before leaving this morning.

I felt that today's color should be scarlet, and so I decided to wear a scarlet colored silk blouse along with a pair of comfortable blue jeans. I let my hair be, thinking that the strands shall fall as they may. I also decided to paint my lips, they too in a fierce red. I descended the staircase, turned and entered the kitchen, all the while being followed by a black poofy ball of fur.

I stood on the kitchen floor in the middle of the room, my feet bare, closed my eyes and visualized the Earth's energy flowing up and into me as I affirmed out loud;

"I am grounded and leveled. I am strong and stable," I took a deep breath and intoned the following. "I am inspired, thought-filled and light." I stepped forward and started running water into a tea kettle I had brought with me from my mother, welcoming the energy of water by saying; "Like this water I flow easily, fluid and clear."

I placed the kettle on the stove and as the water heated, I harnessed the power of Fire.

"I am purified, cleansed and filled with passion." Once my tea was done I poured a cup and breathed in the aroma; it smelled like ginger. Finally I welcomed the energy of Air and the blend of elements by saying; "With these elements I face the day with ease and grace. So be it," and drank deeply. Still holding the cup in mid air while facing the kitchen window, as I was moving the cup away from my lips, I locked eyes with Frey. She was standing tall, like the graceful cat she is, in the doorframe to the cooking sanctuary of the house. I turned my head to provide her with my unconditional attention. She snorted and turned her little nose up in the air as she turned her head away from me.

"I know you don't need it," I told her. "But I do. Just because we are both magical creatures by birth does not mean that I have been brought up the same way you have; with magic as the natural and obvious actuality it really is." She stared at me. Then she proudly stepped out of sight. I laughed.

I gazed out of the window into the morning fog, wondering what the day had to offer. A little anxious I hurriedly ate my breakfast and put on my woolen coat and fluffy Eskimo boots. The air was cool. It had turned from an uncomfortable acerbic cold to a relatively manageable, perhaps even soothing, frosty air. The melting snow under my shoes splashed sloppily around my feet, leaving traces of where I had stepped foot on the ground to my lovely vehicle, the color of it matching the fallen pieces of compact, frozen crystals.

The drive was, as usual, short. My classes were, as always, the opposite. Though Edward confronted me just before class started. He asked me what was in Seattle. It had taken me a while to completely understand what he was talking about, but soon realized that he was speaking of the upcoming school dance, which I had decided not to attend. I answered him honestly, telling him I had simply decided upon it on a whim and that I was actually planning on taking on other matters, personal matters. He asked me if I would mind it very much for him to take me somewhere. I had turned toward him, looking up into the windows of his soul.

"I thought you wanted me to stay away from you." Of course, I had not been planning on following that request through.

"I told you that we shouldn't be friends, Isabella," Edwards's voice caressed my name as it fondly played with my sense of hearing. "Not that I didn't want to be." His mouth had been pulled up into a crooked grin I was growing dangerously accustomed to. I did not know what to do, how to respond to Edwards request. All I could feel was his hope as it illuminated his skin. I ran my fingers through my hair, my face colored with frustration as I breathed in, keeping the air trapped in my lungs for just a few redundant seconds. I let out a harsh breath and looked back up into Edwards light orbs.

"Where will you take me?" I asked him, hoping for my own sake that I was not to regret my decision. Edward smiled broadly at my vulnerable self, walking backwards.

"We really should not be friends, Bella." He turned around, and I was facing his back as he walked away from me.

"It is a little too late for that," I spoke lightly, my voice a mere caress of the wind. I was unsure if I had wanted him to hear it, or if I had wanted to keep it to myself.

My tea earlier this evening seemed to have done its job; I was feeling grounded, leveled and peaceful. To a certain degree. I felt like that all the while I was making my graceful self waltz to the cafeteria, having been left behind by Mike as he was seemingly resuming what used to be our routine together with Jessica. I would have to guess that he had accepted her invitation to the spring dance, as had been my advice. Though I did slightly wonder why it felt as if though he was doing nothing more than obeying orders.

My feet were almost silent as I took step after step, only making a slight tapping sound bounce off the walls as all the other students feet were pounding and splashing brown slush all over the floor. Their chit-chattering voices were booming in the space of the crowded, table filled room. Edwards pale face, his musically gifted fingers, light orbs and bronze hair was the first things my eyes sought. His face lit up, his spirit light and glowing in a faint gold. I watched him playfully converse together with his family, their spirits, too, light. Our eyes met at one point, while I was taking a bite of my apple. He held for longer than was thought of as polite, longer than was thought of as merely being interested and even longer than was thought of as a staring contest. I felt the fire in my abdomen stir, creating friction I was not sure I would ever get used to. A slight fear grew as unease growled inside me, squeezing my heart and heaving it deeper into my seemingly tight and bottomless chest. He dragged me into his stare, trapping me in a cage locked safely within him. I felt as though he was holding my heart delicately in his strong, capable hands as he dangled it over a cliff, deep blue water at its feet.

The bell rang, forcefully pulling us out of the grasp we each had on each other. My hopes were up, my head light. It felt as if though I was walking on air, with feathers soaring around me as I took careful steps toward the exit. Edward was still seated at the table with his siblings but I could feel his gaze following me until I was no longer visible to the human eye, until I was seemingly out of reach.

**EdwardPOV**

Then I rose. I placed a mask of indifference across my stone face, though being unfathomed by the force of which she held my marble heart in her fragile little hands. Her hold on me was of the greatest intensity, the feeling which held me captive as I was within her grasp; complete. How this creature, a mere human, I mused as I walked out of the cafeteria, could have such a huge impact on something so cold, soulless and dangerous was incomprehensible to me.

I wanted to run. I wanted to be near her, to feel the heat of the blood rushing under her skin only inches away from me. To be able to sense the faint fragrance of flowers beneath the fierce sent of her blood. The radiating heat of her skin, her multiple colored eyes curiously staring at me, wondering, figuring. Being away from her was driving me mad, even more so than that of her scent. I now appreciated the several years which had passed me by to perfect my self-control, the time I had spent forcefully pushing away my animalistic nature, for without it she would be dead.

Her scent had left a mouthwatering trail behind her, lingering for each step she had taken, threatening to be the destruction of my damned existence. Yet I kept my composure, deliberate steps taken very slowly, carefully. It felt as if though I was tiptoeing, but to the human eye, in the eyes of all those weak little things surrounding me, I was nothing more than another student of Forks high school, a mere human teenager walking to class on an ordinary afternoon after lunch in the cafeteria. But oh, how they were wrong.

My feet led me to the door which had been my goal. Behind it I was able to detect the beating of multiple hearts, hear the thoughts of people who thought themselves share my education. The door stood open, so I had not a chance of stopping before the entrance to take a breath of fresh enough air before entering. I tried to brace myself as I walked toward my seat. The dragging of the chair against the slick floor triggered my unease as I stared at Isabella's perpetual beauty. I sat down, still holding my breath steadily and contemplating my usage of the limited supply of air. Once I had seated myself I simply accepted the fact that my time to muse had run out.

"Isabella," I greeted carefully, a small smile pleasantly awaiting her attention.  
>She turned her head around and looked at me, mouth slightly open and eyes gleaming with a knowing I did not quite understand. Then she smiled. And then she spoke.<p>

"Welcome, Edward."

**A/N: Mwahahahaha, well…**_**I**_**thought it was funny!**


	9. Help

Hello.

I need your inspirational thoughts on what is to happen - i need your help.

Writersblock here, and I _really_ want to post more for you so... review or send me a private message, just HELP ME!


	10. Short, but something

**BellaPOV**

I opened the window as soon as I had placed myself in my seat. The wind swallowed the room in a chilly embrace and I took a deep breath as Skadi's power consumed me. The wind had been especially strong these past few days, it seemed she wanted me to know of something, as if she was trying to awaken my dense self and make me see the truth behind the secret so obvious it passed me by again and again.

The other goddesses did not seem as desirous for reaching the same goal though Ran, the goddess of water, had also been quite ardent for me to learn this mysterious arcanum. When Skadi and Ran work together, rough weather of great vigor was to be expected, and as Ran rested while Skadi's winds played with my hair I could practically smell the forthcoming storm.

I exhaled and let go of my unease to steady myself and come back to consciousness. I sat down and picked up a pencil.

His radiant aura crept its way inside the classroom just before he did. It was practically screaming for attention, attention I could not grant considering I was incredibly occupied with the flower-sketch I was working on in my notebook.

Edward pulled his chair out, something he did without the chair screeching against the floor apart from the rest of us, and sat down as he greeted me. I turned and greeted him in return, smiling. He seemed suspicious as he took his seat, probably reading too much into something. It seemed a typical thing for him to do.

"You know," I started. "You should work on letting your chair screech as you pull it out." I could feel him staring at me, from the corner of my eye I observed his orange tainted spirit glow. I turned around slightly to look at him, smiled and said, "It's not very human when it doesn't."

His face was blank, almost expressionless, but there was a hint of a smirk there somewhere. "Oh, really?" He asked. Confused as to why that was his only reaction I turned back around. Self study. Great.

**A/N: I decided to post small entries from now on, since long chapters take WAY too long and I am in need of your ATTENTION, considering my lack of… inspiration… lately… **

**To put it shortly, REVIEW!**


	11. Playing with fire

**BellaPOV**

He was waiting. I could feel the energy around him trying to pull me in, wanting me to do something. _Speak._ He was staring, I could feel it.

Pressure.

He wants me to tell him something he wants to know, probably something he thinks I am hiding, but it is hard to know what that could be considering the fact that I am not hiding anything. I had never felt this way before, I had never not known what to do or say. It made me feel panic, or something along thoes lines, and it did not feel good.

I caught sight of a piece of paper on the table in front of me and an idea flared to life. I turned my undivided attention to the paper and ignored Edwards calls for my attention.

**EdwardPOV**

"Isabella, can you hear me?" She was staring at something in front of her, concentration written all over her pretty face. My cries had been called in vain, for they were never to be answered – she was not present here any longer.

I stared intently at Isabella as she stared at something else, a sheat of paper. I watched as her pupils dialated and her irises turned bright amber. I was bewildered, bewitched by the unnatural – her eyes changing color and the paper being set ablaze just after. _Did she just…?_

The fire alarm blared through the halls, I felt water run down my face, soaking my clothes and hair compleatly after only a few seconds. Screames of the teeagers around me woke me from my mesmerized state. I blinked and stood, still quite entranced by Isabella. Isabella. I turned around, teenagers running into me as I stood gazing at Isabella again.

She had her palmes turned up toward the ceiling, her head tilted back, mouth slightly agape as she was smiling. Her eyes were closed and she was still sitting down. I walked back to her, stopped in front of the desk.

"Isabella, are you coming?" I was starting to think that she was not going to answer me, but then she opened her eyes. Brown.

"Yes," she smiled, rose and we walked out of the school.


	12. Give me answeres

**EdwardPov**

"What just happened?"

Isabella was staring out the window, having stepped into my car without me having to ask her. I was prepared to persuade her to let me take her home, anticipating her making a fuss, but no. She had calmly seated herself in my volvo and put her seatbelt on, silence had followed.

She answered me with a question, "What are you speaking of?"

"The fire," I started. "That was you, was it not?"

"Very good, Edward," her voice had been an octave lower than usual as she praised me.

That was as close as I had gotten to solving the mystery that is Isabella Swan so far, it almost made me go berserk, but I managed to keep my curiosity at an average level.

"How did you do that?" I slowed down, feeling as if though I needed more time than the short drive to her house would be able to provide. She turned her head and flashed a mischievous smirk.

"Please," I begged. "Please, you have to give me some answers." Her face relaxed and she turned back to gaze in front of us.

"Why would I, knowing you will give me nothing in return?" We were not yet in front of her house, but she opened the car door and smoothly stepped out of the car. "You driving this slowly will not get me home any faster than me walking. Thank you for today, we shall see each other again tomorrow. Until then." Isabella slammed the door shut and left me in the rain, the car still, the motor still running and myself completely engrossed in thoughts.

**A/N: Hello! I need more reviews, btw, beacause otherwise my inspiration/drive to continue will seriously run dry... And I don't want that, so PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you all for being patiant with me!  
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